Jan-Lennard Struff missed the quarter-finals of the French Open despite another strong performance. The 31-year-old tennis professional lost on Monday in Paris in the round of 16 against the Argentinian Diego Schwartzman 6: 7 (9:11), 4: 6, 5: 7 and thus missed the first jump into the quarter-finals in a Grand Slam tournament .
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Especially in the first set, Struff missed too many chances and missed a total of seven set balls. After 3:02 hours, number ten seeded Schwartzman, who made it to the semi-finals in Paris last year, made progress with the first match point. This means that there is only one German in Alexander Zverev in the quarter-finals. The German number one will meet the Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina on Tuesday.
Struff caught a rocket launch on the Suzanne-Lenglen Court. The German number two took Schwartzman’s service twice and quickly moved away to 5: 1. But then the Warsteiner could not use his many chances. When the score was 5: 1, he awarded the first four set balls. Schwartzman now improved tremendously, Struff, on the other hand, had problems with the serve, which had previously come with a high percentage. The Davis Cup player missed two more set balls, so the decision had to be made in the first round in the tie-break.
Struff’s strength diminishes
There, too, Struff continued to play strong tennis, both players offered the spectators a thrilling exchange of blows. Struff struggled as best he could, destroyed three set balls by the Argentine and had one more chance of winning the first section. But after 66 minutes Schwartzman made the 11: 9 in the tiebreak perfect in the fourth attempt. The fact that the tenth in the world rankings got the first set with a lucky net scooter matched Struff’s bad luck that day.
But also in the second round, Struff gave the favorite a great fight. Two times he pulled away with a break, but both times Schwartzman was able to counter immediately and also took the service from the German. This time Schwartzman used his first chance to win the set and made the preliminary decision.
Because at Stuff the strength was decreasing more and more, the frustration about the many missed opportunities also weighed heavily on him. Schwartzman moved away so quickly to 4-0, but then Struff was suddenly back. With tireless efforts he fought his way back and, amid the cheers of the spectators, equalized again to 4: 4. At 5: 5 he even had another break ball that might have turned the game around. But Schwartzman stayed cool and finally made the victory perfect with a strong passing ball.
Novak Djokovic reached the quarter-finals in Paris, but had to work hard against the Italian Lorenzo Musetti. Djokovic lost the first two sets against the 19-year-old with 6: 7 (7: 9), 6: 7 (2: 7), before Musetti lost his strength and the Serbian world number one was able to turn the game around. Djokovic won sets three and four 6: 1, 6: 0, then the Italian gave up after 3:27 hours with a score of 4: 0 for Djokovic in the fifth set. Djokovic is now facing the next Italian. Opponent in the quarter-finals is Matteo Berrettini, who benefited from the fact that his opponent Roger Federer had withdrawn before the game.
It was much easier for the young American Cori Gauff to reach the quarter-finals. The 17-year-old won against Ons Jabeur from Tunisia with a surprisingly clear 6: 3, 6: 1 and thus survived the round of 16 for the first time in one of the four Grand Slam tournaments. Gauff is the youngest quarter-finalist in a Grand Slam tournament since the Czech Nicole Vaidisova in Paris 2006. In the fight for the semi-final, the American is now up against the Czech Barbora Krejcikova, who beat Gauff’s compatriot Sloane Stephens with 6: Won 2, 6-0.
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